1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for connecting a cable having a plurality of wires to a connection target.
2. Description of the Related Art
A connector for connecting a cable having a plurality of wires to a connection target accommodates therein terminal plates (contacts) corresponding to the wires. The wires and the contacts can be connected to each other by soldering, IDC (Insulation Displacement Contact), etc.
In the case of IDC, the end of a contact to be connected to a wire is formed in U-shape having a recess for clamping the wire therein. For this reason, the U-shaped end of the contact has a width greater than the thickness of the wire. Accordingly, when a plurality of contacts are to be arranged in such a manner that the U-shaped ends thereof are disposed in a row, the width of the connector will become greater than the thickness of the cable disadvantageously.
In an attempt to solve the above-described inconvenience, according to a connector disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-084799, at one end of the contact, there is formed a terminal portion to be connected to the connection target, whereas at the other end of the contact, there is formed a wire connecting portion to be connected to the wire. Further, the layout of the plurality of contacts is designed such that the terminal portions are disposed in a row whereas the wire connecting portions are disposed in a plurality of rows, with the disposing positions of the plurality of rows corresponding to a plurality of positions along the connecting direction of the connector.
In the case of the connector disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-084799, with the above-described configuration of the connector, the number of the wire connecting portions to be disposed in each row is reduced, so that even when the distance between adjacent terminal portions is set small, a sufficient space can be ensured for adjacent wire connecting portions disposed in the same row. Further, as the disposing positions of the plurality of rows are designed to correspond to a plurality of positions along the connecting direction of the connector, sufficient space is ensured for each row. With these, there is realized a connector which is compact and easy to assemble, while ensuring enough space for the connection between the wire connecting portions and the wires.
Further, reduction of the width of the connector is possible also by eliminating a contact(s) other than the contacts required for signal transmission from the connector.
However, in the case of the above-described layout of the contacts in the connector disclosed in the Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-084799, there is the risk of deterioration in the transmission performance such as an intra pair skew, a differential impedance, etc. Further, in the case of the arrangement eliminating a contact(s) other than those required for signal transmission from the connector, there is the risk of deterioration in the transmission performance such as a crosstalk, etc.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described state of the art and its object is to provide a connector which is compact and easy to assemble, but provides superior transmission performance.